LinkedIn facing privacy rights lawsuit

LinkedIn (LNKD) is facing a lawsuit which claims it violated customers’ privacy rights for marketing purposes. The company is accused of accessing users' external e-mail accounts and downloading contacts’ addresses though the users e-mail address provided when signing up to the site.

LinkedIn customers can now pursue damages for revenue it made from using the e-mail address books.

The lawsuit calls into question how wiretap laws enacted before the Internet apply to data generated when people send e-mails and surf online.